Nov022011

"An unofficial gauge of human misery in the United States rose last month to a 28-year high as Americans struggled with rising inflation and high unemployment. The misery index - which is simply the sum of the country's inflation and unemployment rates - rose to 13.0, pushed up by higher price data …" (Ann Saphir, "U.S. 'misery index' rises to highest since 1983," Reuters, 10/20/11)

"The besieged housing market has even further to fall before home prices really hit rock bottom. According to Fiserv (FISV), a financial analytics company, home values are expected to fall another 3.6% by next June, pushing them to a new low of 35% below the peak reached in early 2006 and marking a triple dip in prices." (Les Christie, "Home prices heading for triple-dip," CNN Money, 10/31/11)

"Layoffs are running ahead of last year — 16 percent higher through the first 10 months of 2011 — as the economy has stagnated. Long-term unemployment remains a problem with approximately 31.8 percent of the jobless out of work for a year or more in the third quarter, about 4.4 million people, according to report from Pew's Fiscal Analysis Initiative released Wednesday." (Vicki Needham, "Employers added 110,000 jobs in October," The Hill, 11/02/11)

"The ever-escalating national debt will hit and then surpass the size of the entire U.S. economy - an ignominious distinction previously achieved by the likes of Japan, Italy and Greece." (Richard Wolf, "National debt nears size of U.S. economy," USA Today, 10/29/11)

"The Kaiser Family Foundation shows family premiums topped $15,000 a year for the first time in 2011, increasing a whopping 9% this year, three times more than the increase the year before." (Jake Tapper, "New Study Underlines Unfulfilled Promises of Health Care Bill," ABC News, 09/29/11)